Meet Christine Barber

Christine Barber, author of The Replacement Child and winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize for mystery writing will speak at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Santa Fe Public Library on Sunday, February 8 at 1:30 p.m. at the Main Library, 145 Washington Ave. The program is free and sponsored by the Friends. Refreshments will be served.

The first annual Heart of the Library Award will be presented. The winners for 2009 are volunteers Lisa Bemis, Andrea Gross and Pilar Faulkner, all of Santa Fe, who serve as the Friends of the Library’s legislative team. Their successful efforts for the Libraries began in 2003, raising capital funds for the new Southside Branch Library. The award is given to those whose support and contribution of time and talent is extraordinary.

The Friends of the Library is a voluntary group founded in 1974 to raise funds to support the Santa Fe Public Libraries. The Friends are seeking volunteers and potential Board Members to help carry on the voluntary programs and fund raisers sponsored by the Friends. The Friends’ book stores and book sales raise funds to purchase new books and materials plus support hundreds of children’s programs. Join the Friends and learn how you can support the library.

For more information contact Maria at 955-6788.

School Election

Think that election season is OVER? Think again!

ON Tuesday, February 3rd, elections will be held for the Santa Fe, Pojoaque Valley, and Espanola Public Schools. Each school district will be electing 2 School Board members. Call 986-6200 for information or check http://www.santafecounty.org/.

In addition, All Santa Fe registered voters residing in the entire Santa Fe Public School District will be voting on a $160 million Santa Fe Public Schools Bond and HB-33 Mill Levy to fund school facility improvements and repairs. Information on the bond issue is available on Santa Fe Public School's website, or by calling 467-2028. Also, the Santa Fe League of Women Voters Voter Guide is available for candidate profiles.

Need to know what school district you live in? You can find out at the League of Women Voters website.

by JK @ Main

February Library Exhibits

Main Library
Paintings of the Southwest
Oil Paintings
by Lorencita (Lorrie) Lujan

Southside Library
Impressionism³
Landscapes & Still Life in Oil
by Esteban Rueda

For more information, check our Art page.

For upcoming events, check our Calendar and Children's pages.

2009 Award Winners

At the American Library Association's Midwinter conference last weekend, this year's crop of literary award winners was announced. Focusing primarily on children's and young adult literature, the following books were singled out for excellence in 2009:

Newbery Medal: The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman.

Caldecott Medal: The House in the Night, written by Susan Marie Swanson; illustrated by Beth Krommes.

Printz Award: Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta.

Coretta Scott King Award: We are the ship: the story of Negro League baseball, words and paintings by Kadir Nelson.

Belpré Illustrator Award: Just in Case, by Yuyi Morales.

Morris Award: A Curse Dark as Gold, by Elizabeth C. Bunce.

For information about Honor Books (runners-up) and winners for additional medals and awards, check the official press release. For information about the awards themselves, the ALA has an informative page.

Teen Poetry Café at Southside Library

Saturdays: February 7 - April 25
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 pm

6599 Jaguar Drive

Open to Santa Fe Area High School Students
Free: No Registration Required

New Mexico CultureNet is partnering with Santa Fe Public Library in sponsoring Poetry Café Working Group. Poetry Café will focus on developing writing and reading skills and sharing work with fellow aspiring poets. High school students from the Santa Fe area are invited to attend this free weekly workshop.

The workshop will be led by poet Rachelle Mechenbier, who has taught at Alameda Middle School, Santa Fe High School and is a member of the New Mexico CultureNet Poets-in-the-Schools Program. Teachers, poets and interested members of the community are welcome to drop in and help out.

For more information, contact
New Mexico CultureNet Office: 474-8500
or e-mail: alex@nmculturenet.org

Local Artists Give Free Demonstrations

in the Community Gallery

In honor of GENERATIONS, an exhibit now showing at the Community Gallery running through March 6, artists will demonstrate techniques and work which are grounded in the history and roots of their families. If you are interested in learning more about these individual artists and the creative history of New Mexico, we encourage you to attend demonstrations planned Saturday, Jan. 31 and Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Community Gallery, 201 W. Marcy.

Saturday, Jan. 31, 12 – 4 p.m.
Ruben Gonzales: Woodworking
For more information about Ruben go to his website.

Saturday, Feb. 21, 12-4 p.m.
Jean Anaya Moya: Straw appliqué

These demonstrations are brought to you by the Santa Fe Arts Commission at the Santa Fe Community Gallery, located within the new Santa Fe Community Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy (at the intersection of Marcy and Sheridan).

For more information call (505) 955.6705 or email: rdlambert@santafenm.gov

Hot-Blooded Books

I've been reading Tom Miller's Trading with the Enemy: a Yankee Travels through Castro's Cuba. It's a good read right now for various political and economic reasons. As an added unexpected bonus, when the night turns cold, reading about this verdant Caribbean nation helps keep me warm. Whether you're forgoing your Caribbean vacation this year due to finances or the havoc of last fall's hurricanes, or, let's face it, you've never been on a Caribbean vacation, we have some good reads to help transport you.

If scraping your windows on a winter morning renews your dream of being your own boss on a tropical beach, check out Herman Wouk's Don't Stop the Carnival. If Jamaica sounds just right to you, there's Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea to explain what happened to Bertha when she met Rochester. Back in Cuba, you can revisit Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. In non-fiction, there's Wade Davis's exploration of Vodoun in Haiti in The Serpent and The Rainbow. For political analysis, Randall Robinson compares living in St. Kitts to the United States in Quitting America. But if a light-hearted romp through the length and breadth of the balmy region is in order, who better than Jimmy Buffett with A Salty Piece of Land?

Cheaper than a Caribbean resort, without the pesky no-see-ums. Pick up a hot-blooded book to get you through till spring.

White House Website

By now, most people know that at noon Eastern time on Tuesday, January 20, Barack Obama became the 44th president. Simultaneously, with much less fanfare, the White House website was changed to reflect the new administration. Accompanied by the familiar colors and lettering of the Obama presidential campaign and subsequent transitional office, the redesigned website is both very user-friendly and receptive to feedback.

There is also a blog written by various administration staffers, so that you can keep up with current White House initiatives and news. Currently on the blog you can both read and watch President Obama’s inaugural address.

by RG @ Main

New Catalog Look

Our online catalog will be getting a new look on Sunday, January 25th. While none of the features that you're used to will change, the menus, buttons and layout will be a little different.

We're setting this up to prepare for the implementation of a new product, Research Pro, this Spring. Research Pro will enable you to search our catalog, databases and select web resources with one click.

If you have any questions or comments, before or after the new catalog rollout, be sure to email us at library@santafenm.gov.

New Year Book Fair

Clear Light Book Gallery (Annex)
851 West San Mateo St., Santa Fe, NM

Saturday, Jan. 31
10am to 4pm

Featuring the Finalists and Winners of the 2008 New Mexico Book Awards.

This is the first of a series of monthly events to promote local authors, publishers and literary programs. The event is free and open to the public with ample parking.

For information about participating authors and publishers, please click here.

For additional information please contact:

Paul Rhetts, NM Book Coop
505-344-9382, info@nmsantos.com

Jane Price, Clear Light Book Gallery
505-424-9090, jane@clearlightbooks.com

Walking

I’ve always been a walker. As a child I rambled through parks and woods, along rivers, up hills, and all the many interesting places in between. I walked to school and back. I walked to work and back. I just walked for the love of walking. As I moved within and between towns it became a great way to get to know my neighborhood and my neighbors. I love to walk when I travel. I’ve walked all over San Francisco and Glasgow and hiked along the Cornish coast and within Yosemite. Give me an opportunity to slap on a hat and pull on a pair of comfy shoes and I am out the door – walking somewhere.

Articles in health magazines often tout the benefits of walking, noting that there are no special skills required, no special equipment (except good shoes) required, and it’s free. I find walking great for relieving stress. When I walk during my lunch hour those annoying little things that might grow out of proportion are put in their proper place and disappear. Solutions to problems float to the surface. I return to work relaxed and refreshed.

The Santa Fe Public Library has many books walking on for exercise including Walking: a complete guide to the complete exercise by Casey Meyers as well as books on the experiences to be found hiking, from Robert Mcfarlane’s new book Wild places to Bill Bryson’s hilarious A walk in the woods: rediscovering America on the Appalachian trail. For those who prefer hiking locally, don’t forget the Sierra Club’s Day hikes in the Santa Fe area.

The joys of living in Santa Fe include the many sunny days, the glorious scenery, the crisp air perfumed with piñon smoke in winter and wildflowers in the summer, and the friendly people also out walking. Get out there. It’s free.

by PS @ SS

Fiction Bag Day

Saturday, Jan. 31st, 2009
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Southside Library Bookstore
6599 Jaguar Dr.

One Day Only
Open to the Public

All fiction is on sale! Fill up a bag for only $3.00.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Santa Fe Public Library.

FREE Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

at City Hall Wednesday

Free energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) will be given away on Wednesday, Jan. 21 from 12 noon – 2 p.m. on the first floor of City Hall, 200 Lincoln Ave. The City will distribute more than 300 bulbs, no more than 4 per household. No exchange is necessary.

Using CFLs is a simple way to save energy in your home everyday; without having to spend a lot of money. CFLs use 75 percent less electricity than traditional incandescent light bulbs and can last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. By using a CFL in a frequently used lamp, you can save about $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb's lifetime, according to PNM.

Charity Navigator

I had to send a stern note to a particular environmental company who sold my info after I specifically said not to do so. But this didn’t help me with the subsequent plethora of pleas for money that have shown up in my mailbox on a daily basis. Sure, I have some expendable income to spread around to causes in which I believe, but I definitely don’t have enough to reward every single non-profit that sent me return address labels this year! (Can anyone in their lifetime send enough letters or pay enough bills to use up even one sheet of address labels from even one charity? Even holiday cards barely made a dent.)

Then my dad showed me his latest find: CharityNavigator.org. This website is invaluable for those, like me, wanting to find out all the info they can on these people asking for money, but not having the time to do the research on each company (I did check some individual websites at first, but became exhausted, and of course they’re all biased in favor of themselves; you’re not going to get a website saying “wow, we really don’t do as much as we ought to, and we used your donation to order pizza for our relatives”).

Charity Navigator is completely easy to use. The website evaluates the companies on efficiency and responsibility. You can scope out who is in charge and what their salaries are. There is plenty to the website which I won’t detail here, but you can spend a lot of time checking out all the aspects. Do check out the tab for user comments; these are helpful in getting varying opinions and viewpoints, and more information (but of course, remember that these are opinions, and the facts should be verified elsewhere). For example, PETA’s comments discussed the company’s euthanasia policies, and some of the comments were heated. It definitely provided more grist for my decision mill.

Finally, if you’ve decided the company you’re researching passes muster, you can donate directly through Charity Navigator, and here’s the really cool part – you can withhold your information so they quit sending you all those dang address labels. Hallelujah!

by AA @ Main

Lee Marvin Film Festival

Some years ago, a group of us were trying to come up with ideas to revitalize a small-town movie theater, and by extension the small town itself. "A Lee Marvin Film Festival," suggested one, and it was greeted by chuckles all round. I had to do a bit of research to find out who Lee Marvin was, but after watching a couple of feature films and Twilight Zone episodes, I too could pick that distinctive profile and voice out of a line-up, or a cast of thousands.

The festival never happened, and last time I checked the small-town theater was still dark. But I've found that cold winter nights have been a great time to have a small screen Lee Marvin Film Festival, with cocoa and little fanfare. I've been watching classics such as The Caine Mutiny, The Dirty Dozen, The Wild One and The Man who Shot Liberty Valance. He cuts an imposing figure in newer films like Gorky Park, and won an Academy Award for Best Actor in Cat Ballou.

It's been great to see a lot of films I might not have otherwise chosen simply by following the career of a single actor. After seeing All About Eve and The Little Foxes recently, I intend to follow up with a Bette Davis Film Festival. After that, I'd like to pick a director or producer a little less well known. Any suggestions?

Inauguration Television at Southside Library

On Tuesday, January 20th, the Southside Library will be hosting an all-day Inauguration Event in the Community Room. Drop in or spend the day, and watch the Inauguration on television. Events start at 11:30 am EST, or 9:30 am Santa Fe time.

The Library opens at 10:00 am, and will close at its regular time of 8:00 pm.

Be sure to check the official Inauguration Day Calendar for the updated schedule.

The Southside Library is located at 6599 Jaguar Drive, at the corner of Country Club Road.
Please call 955-2820 for more information.

Electronic Inauguration

Some of us are too impatient for the inauguration to wait for the recaps on evening news of YouTube. If you are one of us, and your workplace is not setting up a TV front and center to broadcast the historic moment, this link will apparently be running streaming video and have lots of blog posts from all over. They even have a countdown going on – 5 days, 0 hours, 29 minutes, and 36 seconds as of this writing!

by AA @ Main

Lewis Carroll's Birthday Event

Classic children's author Lewis Carroll was born on January 27th, 1832.

Celebrate his birthday with us in a costume from Alice in Wonderland and enjoy treats and games.

The creative craft is making wallets out of playing cards. Materials will be provided and registration is required.

Monday, January 26th
Southside: 4 pm

Tuesday, January 27th
Main: 4 pm

Wednesday, January 28th
La Farge: 4 pm

For more information, call the Children's Room at
Southside: 505-955-2828
Main: 505-955-6783
La Farge: 505-955-4863

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Closures

All branches of the Santa Fe Public Library will be closed on Monday, January 19 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

The libraries will be open regular hours over the weekend:

Main Library:
Saturday: 10 am - 6 pm
Sunday: 1 pm - 5 pm

La Farge Library:
Saturday: 10 am - 6 pm

Southside Library:
Saturday: 10 am - 6 pm

Your Library Serving Santa Fe

Reports from libraries around the country confirm what is happening in Santa Fe. As the economy struggles, more and more people are using their local libraries. In the last Fiscal Year, the Santa Fe Public Libraries tallied over 100,000 more visits than the year before. That equals a 14.36 % increase in visits. Patrons also checked out almost 100,000 more books, CDs and DVDs, a 19.84% increase. In addition, free internet computer use jumped 16.30% with 143,989 users.

Libraries become the hub of family life in hard times. When economic times get tough, families get creative. In reviewing their budgets, many families are turning to a familiar place - the public library.

The Libraries are family places. Children’s programs are offered several times a month and are free, thanks to generous Foundations and the Friends of the Library. And those books that were checked out? Just about 136,000 or 33% were children’s books.

When job hunting today, the creation of résumés, searching the net for jobs and applying on line for open positions has become the norm. But what if you do not have access to or own a computer? Where to turn? The answer is your local public library. The Library owns books on how to create résumés and cover letters. Want to write to a company you think might appreciate your skills? The reference staff can help find addresses and other information for the companies you are interested in.

Where else is such one stop shopping—on a Friday night families flock to check out DVDs, pick up books and check out the programs for the week. All for “free,” or at least for your tax dollars at work.

But what does your tax dollar buy? The City funds the libraries with additional support from the State GO Bonds and privately donated funds from such generous funders as the Friends of the Library. A City resident pays approximately $ 40.00 per person annually for Libraries and Library services. But what does one get for that? Here’s how you can measure your Library value to you.

The Library recently posted a calculator to gauge your Library “value” for the services you use each month. By entering the Library services you use each month-- how many books you checked out a month, how many programs you attended and how many times you used the free internet-- the calculations are made automatically to show what you had saved by using the Library in a month. My total came to just over $600 per month. That makes libraries a bargain! You can figure out what your savings are by going to the Library Value Calculator and filling in your library usage information.

Your library is a lifeline in hard times. If you haven’t used the Library lately, you are missing a lot.

Article by Jennifer Jaramillo of the Santa Fe Public Library Board.

Photo by TT @ SS